WILL TRUMP BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A POSSIBLE BANKRUPTCY OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION?

The US President decided that financing of the World Health Organization (WHO) is temporarily not necessary. The organization, in his opinion, did not fulfill its direct obligations to provide objective information about the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which means that it should not be financed. According to a number of international experts, Trump’s decision could lead to the WHO’s bankruptcy.

This idea was outlined in the article, written by the Australian expert Adam Camradt-Scott. According to an associate professor of the Sydney University, suspension or even reducing of the WHO’s funding in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic is the same with the deliberately leading the organization to bankruptcy.

In case of bankruptcy, it will be forced to dismiss the staff, including those employees who save the lives of people from the countries with low incomes.

The WHO may weaken the coordination processes of the efforts of specialists developing vaccines against the virus that are being conducted at the international level - technical support and the expertise of the consequences of the pandemic will be hampered.

The real financial statistics states that in February, the presidential administration has issued an ultimatum on the reducing of the contributions to the WHO by almost a half (from $ 122.6 million to $ 57.9 million). Nevertheless, it is the States that, according to a number of expert evaluations, remain the main financiers of the WHO. Contributions to the Russian Federation, according to the experts, amount to $ 5.9 million. The leaders in terms of investment, except the United States, are China ($ 28.6 million) and Japan ($ 20.5 million).

The European countries, including the UK, pay a little more than Russia annually. Leadership among them belongs to Germany ($ 14.6 million), Great Britain ($ 10.9 million) and France ($ 10.6 million). The total budget that the WHO was to collect this year was a little less than $ 250 million. Almost $ 80 million was actually raised in the first three months of a year.

Many analysts doubt that the US refusal to pay the assessed contributions to WHO might lead to the bankruptcy of the organization.

The share of assessed contributions has significantly decreased in recent years. More than 75% of the organization’s budget is made up of the voluntary donations. According to the organization itself, the US investments account only for 14.7% of the budget, while almost 10% of the financial resources come from the private fund of the Gates couple. That is why Donald Trump is unlikely to bankrupt the organization. The same cannot be said about the negative impact on a number of WHO programs that would have to be supported in this case (for example, the campaign to eradicate poliomyelitis in the African countries).

The representatives of almost all the leading world powers, including Russia, were quick to condemn Trump's decision. He was called irresponsible and counterproductive in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Josep Borrell, the representative for foreign policy and security of the EU, said that there was no reason for such an action. The representatives of the Foreign Ministries of Germany and China have criticized Trump as well, and even Antoniu Guterres, the UN Secretary General, condemned the decision of the American administration.

Trump's refusal to finance the WHO was also criticized in the States, both by his political opponents and some of his supporters. Patrick Leahy, a senator from the Democratic Party, was the first to criticize. He compared the president’s act with the refusal to transfer weapons to an ally before an enemy attack. Chas Freeman, a former assistant of the head of the US defense department, pointed out the danger of such decisions on the part of the White House, as this could weaken the country's role in the international politics, leaving a vacant niche for China.